Those Crazy Russians

Awful news for beer lovers in Russia: beer has now been classified as alcoholic! The article from the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14232970) explains the details.

Things to take from this:

1. How did it take so long for this to happen? Was there seriously no licensing restrictions on beer at all?
2. The beer tax in Russia underwent a hike of 200% last year! I think we should be glad this hasn't happened in the UK.
3. This is a fantasticly humorous story.

In other news I have now decided that I fully support a move to ban/ restrict alcohol advertising on television in the UK. The only adverts seem to come from the huge megabrewing conglomerates; mainly because they are the only ones who can afford it. While the free for all of advertising continues huge swathes of the British public will simply stay unaware of what exists within the beer world and will as a result stick to mass produced beers. 

Great British Beer Festival Foreign Beer Preview

With the Great British Beer Festival only 2 weeks away now I feel it's probably time to do some sort of preview.  Now the foreign beer and cider lists have been announced I'm starting to get suitably moist over the prospect of 4 days of beer fuelled fun and games. As a volunteer I’ll be able to, in exchange for a few days of my time, be able to sample the large range of beers on offer for free.

When I first saw the Foreign Beer list (http://gbbf.camra.org.uk/foreignbeers) I have to admit I was only inches away from having an accident in my pants. The addition of a bar purely for American beer is, in my view, a great idea. Those crafty brewers across the pond are making some of the most exciting and tasty beers around at the moment and bar a trip over there it is generally quite hard to find a selection half as good as this anywhere else. The absolutely staggering list of IPA style beers that are currently or will in the next few days make their trip across the Atlantic is second to none and I for one cannot wait to get stuck in and try some. So many of the beers are using what I have to say is my favourite hop combination Chinook, Cascade and Centennial; the 3 C’s as they’re sometime known. Of the huge range of beers listed some of the ones I’m most excited about include Ballast Point’s Habanero Sculpin IPA; a 7% version of their Gold Medal winning IPA with habanero peppers added into the cask. This should be a fiery little number. I can’t wait to get stuck into both the Habanero and original versions of this. Also a cracker on the list is Boulder’s Mojo IPA which boasts a heavy use of Amarillo hops for a “big citrus flavour”. Yummy! Harpoon’s IPA is a cracker that I’ve had before from the bottle and can’t wait to taste on draught. Marshall Wharf’s Big Twitch IPA weighs in at a hefty 9% but is claimed to be “surprisingly drinkable”. Now I’ve had these high strength IPA’s before and sometimes “surprisingly drinkable” is a one stop shop to stumbling home at 4am, dignity residing somewhere in a London gutter with greasy kebab in hand. Port Brewing Company’s Wipeout IPA and the Wipeout IPA with Cascade, both at 7%, should also be a particularly scrumptious experience. Finally, Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo Extra IPA, a 7.2% “bold and assertive” IPA, should also be particularly yummy if their Pale Ale is anything to go by. With the vast majority of these American beers having ABV’s of above 5% and a fair few above 7% that should get the beer fun police down at number 10 raging suitably.

The news that the deal between CAMRA and BrewDog, that would have meant there being a BrewDog bar selling keg beer, has broken down is a real shame. I was quite looking forward to trying some of BrewDog’s rarer beers that I haven’t been able to find yet. James from BrewDog has outlined his view of the cancellation in a blog post on their website http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/camra-cancels-brewdogs-gbbf-bar. Now I don’t really know what is true and what is BrewDog spin but I think this could easily descend into a he said she said argument. As a CAMRA member it does anger me slightly that all this will do is give other bloggers more evidence with which to tar the organisation as an old man’s club who all have beards, beer bellies and only want beers made with Fuggles and Golding. Now as a 21 year old CAMRA member yes I do often bring the average age at events down by a good few years but I do think that BrewDog need to stop thinking of this as a war between craft beer and real ale. If they continue down this path then they may end up isolating a large swathe of their customers; CAMRA members who, shockingly, also like keg beer. It’s not illegal to be a CAMRA member and drink keg beer remember. In the end though, I hope that these 2 organisations can resolve their differences because the only people losing out here are the consumers.

Well that was a long article. Anyway, I’ll also be doing a little preview of the British Beer list when it is released so keep your eyes peeled. I’ll also be blogging live on Twitter throughout the whole event so follow me on @colinhill01 if you’re interested in my inane inebriated ramblings.

A Shed Load of Beer Reviews

Right, since this is a beer blog I guess I should review some beers. Here's a lovely selection of beers I've tried in the last month or so. I don't tend to get to the pub too often for a serious tasting session so when I do go I tend to taste quite a few in one go.


First off was a trip to the Euston Tap; a great little bar with a wide selection of cask and keg beers available. Seeing as summer was on the horizon it was decided that we would stick mainly to IPA's and lighter beers. Right on with the reviews.
1. Summer wine nerotyoe IPA 6%
Just from looking at it it was clear that this beer was dark for an IPA which led me to the conclusion that it may be a black IPA like Windsor and Eton's Conqueror. It has a lovely citrusy aroma which contrasted heavily with a strong malty smoky flavour. A heavy bitter aftertase which was not unpleasant but in my view rendered in unsuitable as a session beer.

2. Northcoat jiggle juice IPA 5.8%
This was a lovely pint. A nice light golden clear colour blended well with a slight citrus aroma to make it appetising even before I'd taken a sip. The citrusy aroma was matched by a similarly subtle citrus taste. This is my perfect kind of beer and one perfect for summer. I found it surprisingly drinkable for a 5.8%. It took a lot of convincing not just the settle down for a session on this stuff.

3. Otley O8 8.0%
I was very excited about this before I tried it. Described as being deceptively drinkable and light it sounded perfect. I was, however, let down by the beer. It had an oily mouth feel and was extremely perfumy in taste. In all quite unpleasant if I'm honest.

4. Brewdog Brambling X 7.5%
Another one I was excited to try. Unfortunately, again we were let down. I found it very sharp and to be honest rather unpleasant. I had expected more from BrewDog having tried their other beers. While they do make some great beers (See below) I feel sometimes their "well if you don't like it you can go away" attitude might end up loosing them customers they might otherwise be able to rely on.

5. Brewdog Hardcore IPA 9.2%
I'd had this before from the bottle, and loved it, and was excited to see if the keg version could be even better. With a huge hop aroma following in to a lovely hoppy fresh taste this beer could not be any better, BrewDog had redeemed themselves and I was happy. This is the perfect example of a beer that if dispensed from the cask would simply lack the punchy hop hit that makes it such a great beer. 


A trip to Cambridge allowed me to taste some beers that would otherwise be unavailable. This time only 2 were sampled.
1. Warwickshire Brewery Kings Champion 
This was a nice first beer of the day to have over lunch. It had a slightly creamy feeling and was not too hoppy. In all a great lunchtime beer!
2. Wolf Brewery Lupus Lupus 
This was billed as having a fruity hop taste which left me very excited to try it. In all it was a lovely light beer but not as hoppy as expected.


So there you have it I've reviewed some beers. Next time I'll be previewing the Great British Beer Festival and talking about the beers I'm hoping to try over the week.

I'm back!

Firstly let me apologise for the lack of blogging over the last month. With a hectic schedule of exams and other work going on I've been rather busy. The lack of a computer at home also hampers my ability to blog. I'll start with a quick round up of what I've been up to in the last month beer wise.

There was a rather disappointing trip to Ireland in which I was heavily disappointed with the availability of proper beer. Furthermore, I honestly don't believe the Guinness tastes better over there; it's just not a nice drink. Way too thick and no taste to it whatsoever.

Following on I attended the Sainsbury’s Great British Beer Hunt. While the tasting session was a little flat the meet the brewery section was a delight. The chance to talk to all those brewers and taste all their beers was wonderful.

I have also come to the conclusion that Nelson Sauvin is my favourite hop. Every beer I try with it in I absolutely love. From BrewDog's crazy range of IPA's to Windsor and Eton's Royal Wedding Beer Windsor Knot they all just taste fantastic. I just find the huge floral hit is unparalleled in other hop varieties especially when paired with lovely citrusy hops.

Most recently I was given the opportunity to help out the head brewer from Windsor and Eton at the speed blogging section of the European Beer Bloggers Conference. It was a hectic but thoroughly enjoyable experience. Apart from getting to try a shed load of different beers, Bad Attitude's Two Penny Porter being my favourite, I walked away with a bucket load of free bottled beers and even half a polypin of the delightful Windsor and Eton Conqueror.

Hopefully there'll be a bit more regular activity on here in the future so keep your eyes peeled.

Is Ireland really Guinness country?

Aren't you lucky followers!? 2 posts in as many days! The topic this time: Is Ireland really just a haven for the black stuff or can they actually brew decent beer over there? Well a family wedding has given me the perfect excuse to take a week off from revision and head over to sample the best the emerald isle can offer. I'm hoping it won't just be a week drinking the black stuff and that somewhere, secretly hidden away, there's a real ale scene that's been left undiscovered by us mainland dwelling beings. I'll be updating regularly while over there so stay tuned for updates!

Wetherspoons: friend or foe?

One of the debates currently raging in the beer world concerns if JD Wetherspoons is an asset to the beer industry or if their stack em high, sell em cheap mentality is demeaning the good name of British beer. After being hassled to update this blog more frequently I thought I'd throw my 2 cents into the discussion.

Most Wetherspoons consistently have a range of real ales on for nicely low prices. The main argument against them is that in their ambition to sell large quantities of ale, the quality can sometimes suffer. Firstly, I feel that this argument holds little weight as the quality of the beer in Wetherspoons is not significantly worse than many other reputable outlets. I can't count the number if times I've seen the Cask Marque symbol displayed with pride in a pubs window only to go in and be presented with a poor range of badly kept beer. The hurt is doubled if, for example, you end up paying £3.50 for a shockingly kept pint of London Pride. At least in Wetherspoons the damage to the wallet is kept at a minimum.

Secondly, the frequent beer festivals held by the chain bring a large range of quality ales together in one place at occasionally disgustingly low prices. I once frequented a Wetherspoons in Manchester to be greeted with a lovely pint for under £1.50!

Finally, by selling the beer cheap it means that a whole new class of beer drinkers can be introduced to real ale. Many of my friends have been converted to real ale as soon as they find out that it is often around 50p cheaper per pint. Even if they're drinking it for the wrong reasons at least it's being drunk. Furthermore, the array of 50p off vouchers provided to me as a CAMRA member don't harm the cause either.

The Last Week In Beer

Last week was quite an interesting one in terms of beer tastings. I had quite a few opportunities to get stuck in and try a shed load of different beers. The start point of the week was a trip to the JD Wetherspoons "beer festival" on Wednesday. I use inverted commas because the festival at my local Wetherspoons consisted of 4 guest ales and then the usual array of crappy Ruddles and Green King IPA. Nevertheless I got stuck in and started with a Rooster Angry Yank IPA, a 5% strong bitter using cascade and Amarillo hops, which while I found it to be relatively inoffensive it seemed to perfectly fit into my category of a pale session beer despite the IPA label. Feeling marginally let down I then opted for the Wychwood Elderwych a lovely light 3.8% golden beer. I found the beer to be highly refreshing with a lovely floral, slightly spicy finish. With the other 2 beers a stout, a style I’m not fond of at the best of times let alone at the start of spring, and a Hyde’s Plum Treat I decided that was about as much experimentation as I could handle and stuck to the Elderwych for the rest of the evening.

A christening in Birmingham provided the perfect opportunity to get out of London and hopefully find some interesting new beers. Before mounting the train there I undertook the now obligatory trip to the Bree Louise near Euston Station. Upon arriving and realising we had very little time my friend and I decided that the best course of action would be to order 4 halves in order to maximise the range of tasting available. As is often common when blind tasting a number of beers we both found 1 to be exceptionally offensive, the other 2 to be quite pleasant and the 4^th a delight. Although we disagreed upon which one of the 4 was the delight it was universally agreed on the bad one.

After arriving and settling in to the house of one of our friends who had kindly agreed to put us up for the weekend we headed out for a pub in central Birmingham; The Victoria which proved to be lovely pub with classical decor contrasted by a young lively crowd and a smorgasbord of music types. As the evening flitted away into a haze of beers and catching up with old friends alas I cannot remember masses about the beers that were drunk apart from again having a particularly nasty stout which tainted the palette for a good while and also enjoying a nice offering from the Wye Valley Brewery; Butty Bach. Butty Bach has been a beer recommended to me by a friend and as far as I can remember his recommendation was a sound one.

The next day with a few hours to kill before our train back to London we decided to visit a pub which I had found in the Good Beer Guide; the Country Girl in Selly Oak. As we arrived we were greeted by a large, brightly lit and friendly staffed pub. Luckily they were also in the midst of their spring beer festival. Overhearing our discussion about which beer to have the barmaid informed us that it was possible to order a 3 1/3 pint tasting stick with 3 different beers. Needless to say we quickly grabbed this opportunity. The highlights for me were White Horse Village Idiot; a light, golden 4.1% beer that had a nice early hop hit which descended into a refreshing fruity aftertaste and Bateman’s Victory Ale; a deceptively drinkable 5.9% IPA which after my rant last week was a nice surprise.

So all in all an interesting week with some disappointments, mainly in the form of some rather offensive stouts, but also a lot of positives coming mainly in the form of some delightful golden fresh spring beers.